housekeeping 101

Our 2 year old can't keep a room clean for 5 minutes so my wife and I have given up trying to keep the house spotless. We do what we can to keep some order, but don't overdo it.

I'm a SAHM to 2 kids, ages 3 and 4 1/2. I kinda feel the same way you do- by the time my husband gets home, it's like the house wasn't touched at all during the day. Of course there are days when I just don't feel like doing much. I do some laundry, I do some picking up, some dishes, etc.. but I don't clean the house from top to bottom on a daily basis. And my husband knows that he should not expect this, because I also have 2 monsters (LOL) to care for, and they're a handful as it is. I have heard some people swear by Flylady. http://www.flylady.net/ I have not signed up for it because I think the daily emails would be enough to tick me off LOL! But it does help some women stay organized.

I have been there and i admit im still there , with 4 kids and 3 of them are in school, the house pretty much can stay clean until they come home and then its like a tornado came thru the place lol , but by the time i realize that im helping iwth 3 diff grades of home work and making dinner and trying to make sure my 3 yr old is occupied and not giving the cat a bath or somithing ... hubby does help out aloy , but the main thing that helped out is giving the kids chores , once their home work is done they know they have to do their chores , they its not much , one has to pick up all the shoes and put them away the other has to pick up all the dirty clothes that get thrown around like jackets etc , the other has to feed and water the animals , and the 3 yr old picks up the toys , this takes about an hour on a good day but usually the house is come what presentable when we are done and then i dont have so much to do , on laundry da wich is pretty much every day they help fold the towels and socks and the lil stuff and put them away , i could ahve them put their clothes on hangers and stuff but im a lil freeky about the way its done so its a pick your battel type of thing LOL anywho hope this helps ya some ~M~

If your kids are in school I would suggest you start with them on keeping up with their own things. there is no reason a school age child cant pick up after themselves and that would cut down on alot of your work.. dishes an launry are llike the mail.. they will never stop.. but my daugther is 5.. and not in school but she has been cleaning up after herself for about 3 years now.. her ability has changed significantly but she also helps me out with her baby brother she does a " sweep " though the living room and puts peoples things in the appropriate rooms. and get's the clothes out of the dryer and puts them on the couch so i can fold them and once I/We are done folding them she helps me put them where they belong..

I am a terrible housekeeper, so I don't know if I can give you any guidance! One thing that helped me was www.flylady.com. I do not know if this website is still going, but they would email you daily chores to do, which helped me a lot! The Flylady stressed 15 minutes a day on any task. She said first and foremost, go shine your sink, meaning do the dishes. I really learned a lot and am now able to keep on top of most messes. My house is not perfect, but I've come a long way in conquering clutter and mess. Check out www.flylady.com.

I hear you!! I too am a stay at home mom who can't seem to keep my house clean. I'm starting to realize that no matter how much I do there's always going to be more to do. So I try not to get caught up in everything having to be perfect...because really the kids don't care!! I figure once they're grown they won't remember if the vacuuming was done or the floors were washed. I would suggest that you maybe start asking for some help. That's a hard one for me to do (asking for help)!! We grow up thinking stay at home mom's are suppose to be able to do everything and still look and feel great!! But we all know that's not always the truth, we all need help sometimes. So why shouldn't husbands help out once in awhile?? Just because he has another job does not give he a free pass from helping out. I'm sure even our husbands need help once in awhile at their own jobs...although they might not admitt it!! Hope this helps...

I completely understand I have a 15month old son at home, a 4 1/2 month old disabled daughter in the hospital 1 1/2 hours away (she has had 3 surgeries so far & still isn't physically well enough to come home yet, I'm around 7 weeks pregnant, and it seems the more I clean the less I seem to accomplish. With my son being 15 months & not being completely interested in using the potty, I still have lots of pampers boxes. My home consists of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 livingroom & 1 dinningroom & 1 kitchen. The bathrooms and kitcken are off limits to my son, so that leaves 5 rooms for him to tear up during the day. So I try to keep 5 empty pampers boxes and when it is clean up time I put one in each room fill them up with things that are out of place. Then I take all the boxes to the livingroom & re-sort them into 5 catagories; my bedroom belongings, my sons bedroom belongings, my daughters bedroom belongings, livingroom stuff, dining room stuff. What ever is left over is usually trash, LOL. This works best during lunchtime, because I can clean my sons bedroom fast & then clean him up & put him down for an afternoon nap & clean the rest of the house. I do this again at bedtime, but leave his box in his sisters room, so I don't wake him once he's asleep. Granted some days I'm too tired & even with my best effort the house still doesn't look 100%. Plus at the end of the day my husband gets home & I am usually the one who gets ready & goes and makes the 1 1/2 hr drive up to visit our daughter & the long drive back. I usually don't even want to wake up the next morning LOL.

I guess most of the stay-at-home moms have the same problem. Atleast I know I do. And I hate it. And it's not because I don't do anything. Infact I'm a very organized person...but my husband isn't:( I found it easier to help my son early on to keep his stuff neatly. But now that he's 6 and he realizes that his dad can leave things around carelessly, so can he. The first thing to do is to get everyone into the cleaning up act. One person alone cannot keep the house clean and neat. Everyone has to pitch in. Even very young children can be taught to keep thir stuff back after they play with it. Get them into the habit early on and things will fall into place.

Believe me, I understand. I have a husband who isn't too neat, and two little girls. They are at the age where they will help out a little now. They are at the age where they need to keep things neat. IF they don't do something I ask, they get priveleges taken away for a while. My hubby said I get crazy sometimes. I say things like, "If you don't listen, no t.v. for a month" He says "now you know you won't stick to that, and so do they" LOL, it will get better. A list of chores might help.

i love that feeling of my home being spotless it is so nice but then as soon as my hubby is home and my son and him have some father child time i walk back to a room and its all back to the way it was when they had finished the night before a homemakers work is never done lol......

work at home,that just a job in free time,but the real work is that ur truth job

I remind my family how much work it is to keep a house clean by once a week I make them do all the cleaning. I have each one of my kids clean one of the bathrooms and my husband cleans our bathroom. I have everyone bring the laundry down stairs before they go to school or go to work and then when they come home I have it all clean and ready to put it away. I make the meals and clean up. I do the floors and dusting. It makes it a whole lot easier than doing it all myself and they learn to appreciate the mom a little more. I believe it is the kids responsibility to keep thier rooms clean and pick up after themselves. Like I always say to my family " I am the mom, not the maid". It works for us. Good luck to you.

Whenever I feel that the clutter is gaining up on me, I get rid of the clutter. Throw away stuff you don't need, sell it on ebay, have a sale, give it to someone who needs it. Get less furniture with more storage space and furniture which is easier to clean.

when your house looks like it has been hit by a tornado, then that's how artists work.. hehehe

wow! your kids are old enough to help you out. i think you need to delegate some of the chores so you will not be very tired at the end of the day.

i think the best way is to have a routine, thats the only way i can keep my house up although the situation may be different, i have a 3 yr old and a 1 and 1/2 year old and if i dont stick to my routine like on the days were gone and doing groceries and stuff my house looks excactly like what you said a tornados bloody hit it and i know it was perfect before the kids got up. i always grap the dirty laundry first thing and throw it in the wash and then get the kids fed and teeth brushed and dress them and then the kids have play time while i make the beds tidy the living room (leaving there toys out) and then i get the brekfast cleaned up and its usually around lunch time after i play with them for awhile and then i play with them for the afternoon and do dinner and clean up and throw them in the bath and i clean the bathroom while there playing in the tub, then they pick up there toys before bedtime and after there asleep i do the floors and the house is done and ready to get messed up for the next day! Makes me tired just writing it. The bottom line is always you can spend your whole day taking care of the house or you can enjoy life, make sure the house is ok (lets face it how many of us are expecting the queen for tea it doesnt have to be perfect) and everything does not have to be perfect, its a home with kids as long as you maintain hygiene, bathroom clean and no food and stuff then a little bit of mess isnt going to hurt anyone. Im a neat freak so i have to remind myself just to let some things go and get down on the floor and play with the kids and enjoy things and if someone comes over and judges me on the fact that every little thing hasnt been picked up then i really dont need to be friends with that person in the first place. Just try to find a routine that works for you and allows you time to enjoy life and keep the house in a little bit of order :)

I am not sure how old your kids are but my boys know nothing of there is aloud out of there rooms unless are are putting it back before there go anywhere else. there only choir are keeping rooms clean and ther dogs. but i know what yo mean it seem like my job is never done as well and I also am a stay at home mom. I kinda think it is hopeless sometimes.

i think better to take help from ur husband and ue child.u try to increase the habbit to take help from others.

Yep I know where you are coming from. I am a full time with to kids under school age and five school age. I just get it tidy and ten minutes after I pick them up it is totaled again. I am so glad at 8.30 when they all go to bed and thing get tidied a little more

hire some servants to organize your home so u can get a free time for urself